Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah gave the chamber of travel agencies his green light to draw up immediate legal regulations, in cooperation with the sector in charge of controlling travel agencies, in order to stop frauds carried out by foreign agents and travel agencies in light of the global financial crisis. Some agents had refused to pay their dues to Egyptian agencies and had agreed to work with others, also Egyptian. This could bring about chaos in the Egyptian tourisms market, as some agencies may lose their rights and markets, while other agencies could fall in the same trap. The president of the chamber of tourist agencies Khaled el-Manawi said Osama el-Oshari, first undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism in charge of controlling travel agencies, has recently received many complaints by Egyptian agencies against some foreign agents who allegedly deceived them and trampled on their rights. In some cases, those agents were constantly in touch with other companies to work with them. He explained that el-Oshari had warned about dealing with such agents and that the new regulations would try to curb such cases of frauds and to stop foreign agents from working in the Egyptian market if they do not pay their dues. The chamber Secretary General Riyadh Qabeel said the chamber had distributed leaflets to all member companies with the names of the foreign agents and agencies as well as the facts and the accusations against them. He explained that the leaflets were distributed after the arrival of such large number of complaints and notifications and that they warned the agencies from going into a partnership with those agents who refuse to pay their dues to their Egyptian counterparts.
